Wild North America 1846

Chapter 564 The Weak Giant

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 564 The Weak Giant

The Tang Empire has always been a country rich in agricultural products. In addition, the royal family and the government of the empire have established a relatively complete grain reserve system. The prices of agricultural and animal husbandry products such as grain and oil have always been relatively stable, with little fluctuation.

Since the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war

The sharp rise in grain prices in the international market was caused by the fact that European countries were worried about the huge gap in grain harvests and rushed to the Tang Empire to buy grain in large quantities. It had little impact on domestic market prices.

The siege of Paris has been going on for more than three months now, causing a huge food panic in various European countries.

In order to stabilize grain prices in the international market, the Imperial Government sold millions of tons of grain in 11 batches on the Chicago Bulk Grain and Oil Exchange, almost all of which were snapped up by international buyers.

According to Chang’an Times;

As a responsible member of the international community, the government plans to sell six more batches of grains totaling 3.2 million tons between December and January next year to stabilize the international grain market, which has remained high.

Basically, it is sold every other week, with the total amount between 500,000 and 550,000 tons. A collective bidding mechanism is introduced, with 10,000 tons as an order, and it is expected to be delivered to European customers from February to March.

This is a measure of transparency in government affairs by the imperial government, aiming to eliminate corruption caused by back-room operations and use market forces more to balance fluctuations rather than resorting to administrative means.

This much food may seem like a lot, but in fact it is not enough at all.

One-third of France's territory and about two dozen provinces were occupied by the Prussian army. A large flow of refugees caused social unrest. Moreover, the northeast and northwest of France are traditional main agricultural production areas. This season's winter wheat was completely finished.

Paris had been besieged for more than three months and had been relying on food supplies from the southern provinces. This situation could not last long.

The "National Guard" formed by more than 300,000 Parisian citizens, plus the logistics personnel, total more than 500,000. If we also include the more than 70,000 government troops under the emergency government composed of bourgeoisie and Orleans faction elements, the entire

Paris was all armed.

The consequence is that so many young and middle-aged men do nothing to produce, but guard the barricades with guns all day long. The city is filled with fanatical patriotic enthusiasm and various ideological trends, and even teenagers as young as 12 or 13 years old have taken to the streets.

As long as the turbulent situation in France does not end, a huge food gap will always exist.

Various waves of anarchism, bourgeoisie and workers' movements emerged one after another, brewing a Paris Revolution that shocked China and the world.

With so many Parisian citizens and their family members numbering over 2.3 million, they have been left without food since September, relying entirely on the southern provinces to transport various supplies. This situation is bound to be unsustainable.

sitting in teahouse

Richard flipped through the newspaper with a leisurely look, and could see from between the lines that the turmoil in Europe was far from ending in a year and a half. The "vacation plan" reported by Prime Minister Dong Jie had been successfully implemented for more than half of the time, and there was no need to worry about the remaining grain stocks.

This is like a giant reservoir that has been drained of its storage capacity, which can handle the next 10 years or so of bumper grain harvests, and regains the ability to regulate the market.

The huge amount of funds used to clean up the inventory will be earmarked for new grain collection and storage in 1871, and the 3 to 5-year rotating storage system will be improved. The storage period will be different depending on the type of grain.

There will no longer be a situation where the storage period exceeds 10 years, where a large amount of grain will become moldy, hardened, and eaten by insects and rats, causing considerable losses.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to clean up inventory, storage warehouses in various places will carry out large-scale repairs, raise foundations, strengthen warehouses, establish complete inventory ledgers, and clean up and beautify the storage areas.

In addition, sewer pipes must be repaired and fire-fighting facilities must be purchased to better shoulder the important task of reserve.

The imperial government's purchase and storage plan for 1871 has not yet been released, but it is estimated to be between 1.8 million tons and 3 million tons.

The government will gradually use 8 to 9 years to refill the inventory, some years more, some years less, depending on the specific situation.

Recently, a large amount of funds withdrawn from the Imperial Treasury have been lent to the French, totaling about 36 million Tang Yuan, with a loan period of three years and an annual interest rate of 6.5%.

The reason why the loan interest rates are so favorable is that the French are not short of money at all. They have a very deep foundation. Everyone knows that the French are very rich, so there is no need to worry about not being able to pay.

In the original history

After the victory of the Franco-Prussian War, France shouldered a war reparation of 5 billion francs, which was equivalent to 250 million pounds, or about 1 billion Tang Yuan. The French gritted their teeth and paid it back in two years.

The reason why the French are taking out loans now is because there is no legal government recognized by the whole people. The Paris government's orders are difficult to get out of the city, and even many people in Paris do not agree with them.

The southern provinces are in a state of ideological confusion, and it can be said that there are many heroes, and there is no way to unify the power of France. Who of the French bourgeoisie, loan sharks and wealthy classes dare to take out the money?

Seizing this opportunity, major financial groups and powerful institutions in the Tang Empire have been in frequent contact with the French, and are currently discussing several loan plans with a total amount of hundreds of millions.

Everyone likes to lend money to rich people, not poor people like Tsarist Russia and Fuso.

The vacating funds in the special account of the Ministry of Finance will also participate in this, which can be effectively used to lend to the French to earn interest and realize the rolling appreciation of funds. It is definitely a profitable business!

After browsing the "Chang'an Daily", Richard picked up a copy of the "Times" from three days ago and read it. This was also the latest version of the "Times" from Chang'an, the imperial capital.

Before the transatlantic cable connection, newspapers published in Europe were shipped across the Atlantic and arrived in North America via cruise ships in bulk mail. Even in New York and Philadelphia, where the speed was fastest, European newspapers were only half a month old.

As for Chang'an, the imperial capital, those are old newspapers from at least a month ago.

After the transoceanic cable cable connection, the newly published "The Times" was sent to the other side of the Atlantic via telegram, and was printed and sold locally in international metropolises such as New York, Chicago, and Chang'an. A Chinese version of the issue was also created to seek greater coverage.

Many readers.

In this way, it is more timely, the sources of information are more diverse, and it is more popular with readers.

Unlike the ordinary people of the Tang Empire who did not care about the world on the other side of the Atlantic, the turbulent situation in Paris always attracted the attention of the British Isles, which can be seen from the length of The Times.

On-the-spot reports from reporters from Paris, the German-occupied areas in the north, and the free zones in the south filled the pages of The Times from front page, second page, third page to fifth page. The international situation was only briefly discussed on the sixth page.

Compared with the former, it can be seen that the degree of attention is higher.

From this point alone, we can tell where the British policy center is?

Through comprehensive reports, The Times basically outlined the entire picture of the Franco-Prussian War, with the focus of all conflicts still being in Paris;

The Prussian army's continuous bombardment of Paris greatly intensified the dissatisfaction of all walks of life and deeply hurt the patriotic enthusiasm of Parisians.

The citizens of Paris, especially the working class and lower middle class, have always hoped to establish a democratic republic and clearly demanded that Paris should be autonomous, have its own elected parliament, and enjoy the same rights as other small French towns.

The Orleanist government flatly refused out of concern for a more unstable situation. The conflict between the two sides was quite acute.

There are also calls for a more equitable way, even a communist way to manage the country's economy, which is summed up into a slogan: establish a social democratic republic.

This is a policy proposition that the Orleanist government, which is dominated by the bourgeoisie, will never accept. The big oil cauldron in Paris is boiling, and cold water poured in from time to time is exacerbating the chaos.

In this situation

Bismarck, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia, expressed concern in public. He said: "This war imposed on Prussia by the French Empire is gradually heading in an unpredictable direction and may trigger a workers' revolution that shocks Europe. This is what I am most worried about.

."

Even so, the Prussian army did not relax its bombardment of Paris for a day, nor did it lower its asking price.

The siege lasted for more than three months

The ruling Orléansist government in France has been seeking to sign a ceasefire agreement with the newly proclaimed German Empire. Due to the huge differences between the two parties and the strong opposition of Paris citizens, they have been unable to reach an agreement.

The Germans demanded that a clause be included in the peace agreement;

The German army must enter Paris with a triumphal ceremony to show the military glory of the new German Empire. This is the noble treatment that the victor should receive.

Despite being besieged for more than a hundred days, the vast majority of Paris citizens still firmly opposed the Prussians' declaration of occupation of their city in any ceremony, and vowed to defend this beautiful metropolis with rifles and lives until death.

Facing today's Greater Paris, the German Empire also has a deep headache;

Taking further military action will inevitably arouse all-out resistance from the citizens of Paris. This is an international metropolis with between two million and hundreds of thousands of citizens. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken up guns to fight against the invasion. Just thinking about it makes one's scalp numb.

However, the citizens of Paris refused to admit defeat, and they would definitely not be able to fight. The current plan was to continue the siege.

during this time

The newly born German Empire was not without gains. The trains bound for Germany from the occupied territories were loaded with various looted materials, including exquisite French furniture and works of art. On the return trip, they were filled with industrial products produced in Germany and dumped on the French market.

.

In areas where the Germans were not good at, such as kerosene, diesel, lubricants, petrochemical products, automobiles and agricultural machinery, food and frozen meat, they allowed the Tang Empire's massive products to enter while collecting a collusive dividend.

at the same time

The Germans were also showing goodwill to Britain, allowing the woven cotton fabrics, steam engines and steel products that Britain was good at to enter the French market unimpeded, while also receiving a share of the collusion dividends.

Therefore, although the Franco-Prussian War was fought intensely, there was no serious material shortage in the market. However, the price of food more than doubled, and the prices of various civilian supplies also increased to varying degrees.

Although it is more expensive, you can buy everything if you have money, and it will not affect the lives of the wealthy middle class and capitalists. Ordinary French people will be unlucky.

Today's France is like a giant that has been wounded and bled. The airs are still there, but the body is much weaker.

(End of chapter)